ABSTRACT
From the reign of King Ecgfrith (670–685) onwards Northumbrian kings were increasingly preoccupied with maintaining the security of their northern frontier against the Picts, and after the death of King Aldfrith (685–704) the threat of external pressure was compounded by internal dissensions. As the strength of the Mercian kingdom reached its zenith Northumbrian weakness ensured that not only its inclination but also its capacity to maintain hegemony over the south would not revive. In 735 the elevation of York into an archbishopric broke the unity of the English Church maintained since the days of Archbishop Theodore, and confirmed Northumbria’s increasing isolation from southern England. For these reasons the history of Northumbria from the end of the seventh century until the destruction of the kingdom by the Danes diverges steadily from the history of the southern kingdoms and requires separate consideration; Bede took it for granted that the Humber constituted a natural frontier between the northern and the southern English. For the Northumbrian kingdom this period of nearly two centuries was one of steady political disintegration. For the Northumbrian church the enfeeblement of royal power created acute problems with which its leaders grappled with some measure of success; a byproduct of their activities was a remarkable efflorescence of intellectual and artistic life which produced some of the greatest masterpieces of the Middle Ages.
